What Did You Do???

[Zeitgeist]

For some reason, that response is very awkward for me to imagine. I tried to visualize her saying it, and nothing seemed very natural.

I could imagine "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???" or "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR???" or several other responses, but "WHAT DID YOU DO???" seems to be only appropriate if she didn't actually witness the crime.

I don't know, maybe I'm imagining it the wrong way, maybe somebody could explain to me the inflection in her voice so I could have a better idea, but right now, it seems... awkward.

[Magnor Criol]

I agree with you - "What did you do" feels weird to me, in the context.

It's not implausible that a type of sorts was made. The Giant, though an excellent storyteller, isn't infallible. He could have accidentally left a couple words off, or meant to type "why did you do that," or some other alternative. It's happened before, after all.

[bluish_wolf]

Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.

In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
Celia: What happen ?
Belkar: Hobgoblin set up us the bomb.
Haley: We get the point.
Ceilia: What !
Belkar: Spot check turn on.
Gnome: It's you !!
Gnome: How are you gentlemen !!
Belkar: All your donkey are belong to us.
Belkar: You are on the way to destruction.
Gnome: What you say !!
Belkar: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Belkar: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
Celia: Belkar !!
Belkar: Kill off every 'GNOME' !!
Haley: You know what you doing.
Belkar: Move 'GNOME'.
Celia: For great justice.

[Pie Guy]

Yeah, it could have been a lot worse.

In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
Celia: What happen ?
Belkar: Hobgoblin set up us the bomb.
Haley: We get the point.
Ceilia: What !
Belkar: Spot check turn on.
Gnome: It's you !!
Gnome: How are you gentlemen !!
Belkar: All your donkey are belong to us.
Belkar: You are on the way to destruction.
Gnome: What you say !!
Belkar: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Belkar: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
Celia: Belkar !!
Belkar: Kill off every 'GNOME' !!
Haley: You know what you doing.
Belkar: Move 'GNOME'.
Celia: For great justice.

Ok...?:smallconfused:

[Silver2195]

Ok...?:smallconfused:

It's a reference to an internet meme, which is in turn a reference to a badly translated video game.

[Lawliet]

Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.

In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
Celia: What happen ?
Belkar: Hobgoblin set up us the bomb.
Haley: We get the point.
Ceilia: What !
Belkar: Spot check turn on.
Gnome: It's you !!
Gnome: How are you gentlemen !!
Belkar: All your donkey are belong to us.
Belkar: You are on the way to destruction.
Gnome: What you say !!
Belkar: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Belkar: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
Celia: Belkar !!
Belkar: Kill off every 'GNOME' !!
Haley: You know what you doing.
Belkar: Move 'GNOME'.
Celia: For great justice.

That was awesome.

[Zeitgeist]

Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.

In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
Celia: What happen ?
Belkar: Hobgoblin set up us the bomb.
Haley: We get the point.
Ceilia: What !
Belkar: Spot check turn on.
Gnome: It's you !!
Gnome: How are you gentlemen !!
Belkar: All your donkey are belong to us.
Belkar: You are on the way to destruction.
Gnome: What you say !!
Belkar: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Belkar: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
Celia: Belkar !!
Belkar: Kill off every 'GNOME' !!
Haley: You know what you doing.
Belkar: Move 'GNOME'.
Celia: For great justice.

This made creating this thread very worthwhile.

On the topic note, though, I really don't think the Giant made a grammar mistake - he doesn't have a habit of doing so. I think I'm just reading it wrong, but I don't know what to change.

[Swashbuckler]

Understand that while Haley has been around the Belkster for a long while, the situation of actually witnessing his EVIL firsthand produced an automatic sense of incredulity. She's so shocked by his casual slaying of an otherwise harmless gnome that she can barely believe it just happened ... right in front of her.

When people are subjected to those kinds of stimuli, very often the first things out of their mouths don't make sense, nor are they always grammatically correct.

Thus, Haley's utterance of, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" is completely in-character and 'normal' per se. The Giant didn't err in the dialog ... in my opinion, he's shown a great understanding of the situational mechanics surrounding the event.

[Quorothorn]

Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.

In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.
Celia: What happen ?
Belkar: Hobgoblin set up us the bomb.
Haley: We get the point.
Ceilia: What !
Belkar: Spot check turn on.
Gnome: It's you !!
Gnome: How are you gentlemen !!
Belkar: All your donkey are belong to us.
Belkar: You are on the way to destruction.
Gnome: What you say !!
Belkar: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Belkar: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....
Celia: Belkar !!
Belkar: Kill off every 'GNOME' !!
Haley: You know what you doing.
Belkar: Move 'GNOME'.
Celia: For great justice.

Oh, that just made my day. Good show, sir.


Anyway, look at it from Haley's perspective: you're talking to this friendly little merchant, when suddenly Belkar casually tosses a dagger through his heart without even blinking. Do you think the first thing out of your mouth is necessarily going to be a correctly crafted sentence of English?

Edit: Ouch, Ninja'd by a Swashbuckler of all classes...still, not as bad as some others, I suppose.

[Spiky]

ALL YOUR BASE!!!!

Truly awesome. Thank you, bluish_wolf.

About Haley's response......it seems to me to be a Mom thing. I have seen (uh, heard) this EXACT response when a mom comes in to find a puppy or <5 year old kid destroying something. It is a "nicer" response than would be given to an older kid/animal that should know better.

I've been contemplating what exactly this means in the comic since I first read it.....

Is her opinion of Belkar so low that he seems to be incapable of anything but killing? Is her opinion of NPCs so low that this is all that is warranted? Is she upset he beat her to the punch of asking to join with the gnome or buy the donkey? Has the guerrila warfare made her more jaded and this response is simply for Celia's benefit to make herself seem like she cares? Did the Giant screw up or reference something else that most of us don't recognize?

Ooh, it could also be a commentary on the silliness of parents in the last 40 years. Maybe Haley sees Belkar as an older child, but her lack of willingness to give out appropriate punishement from a "parental" standpoint means all she will do is say, "WHAT DID YOU DO???" ---I like this one best so far.

[David Argall]

For some reason, that response is very awkward for me to imagine. I tried to visualize her saying it, and nothing seemed very natural.

I could imagine "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???" or "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR???" or several other responses, but "WHAT DID YOU DO???" seems to be only appropriate if she didn't actually witness the crime.


"What have you done?" and "what did you do?" have the same meaning here, "Please tell me that somehow what I know all too well is true is not actually the case." or alternately "You should not have done that." "What did you that for?" is likely the better logical statement, but language is not particularly logical, and we are dealing with stress here.

So pretty much you are just being picky, which we often are around here.

[Remirach]

"What have you done?" and "what did you do?" have the same meaning here, "Please tell me that somehow what I know all too well is true is not actually the case."
Oddly enough I am in 100% agreement with this -- that's how Haley's line reads to me.

[Demented]

Argall, correct, but you're misunderstanding the original post.

The complaint wasn't that it didn't make sense, but that it's awkward compared to conventional norms of reacting to unconventional circumstances.

Asking either question about something which has just happened in front of you is silly, if you go by the literal meaning alone. It's only when the question already has added on extra dramatic tense and meaning that it becomes acceptable. If "What have you done?" were not associated dramatically with such a situation (though it's better reserved for situations where the outlook isn't clear), it would be as awkward as "What did you do?"

Another option in the same vein would be "What is it that you did?"

[Zeitgeist]

"What have you done?" and "what did you do?" have the same meaning here, "Please tell me that somehow what I know all too well is true is not actually the case." or alternately "You should not have done that." "What did you that for?" is likely the better logical statement, but language is not particularly logical, and we are dealing with stress here.

So pretty much you are just being picky, which we often are around here.

Yes, I am being picky. But like Demented said, it isn't the meaning of what she said that I had trouble with. I know what she meant, but I just can't imagine her saying that.

To me, "What have you done?" is more along the lines of "Do you realize what you just did?" and "What did you do?" is along the lines of "What just happened here?", except more awkward to say.

But I can go with the panic distressed thought theory, but I still can't envision it.

[Lunaya]

To me, "What did you do?" sounds like what you would yell at your dog when he piddles on the carpet. You know very well what he did, but you want him to feel guilty. Highly amusing, in my opinion.

[David Argall]

To me, "What have you done?" is more along the lines of "Do you realize what you just did?" and "What did you do?" is along the lines of "What just happened here?", except more awkward to say.


Oh "What have you done?" is clearly the better language, but it is merely the better language. There is no loss of communication, at least in this case.

Now there could be in other cases. "What have you done?" has a very limited array of meanings, centered on you having done the unexpected and undesirable. "What did you do?" can have a much wider set of meanings, in particular those where there is genuine confusion as to what you did and with no objections to many of the options. But the meanings of the two phrases overlap.
In the case at hand, we see there is no confusion. Belkar does not explain to Haley that he killed the gnome, but he goes directly to explaining why. It got the job done, and we are not surprised that it did.

[Spiky]

To me, "What did you do?" sounds like what you would yell at your dog when he piddles on the carpet. You know very well what he did, but you want him to feel guilty. Highly amusing, in my opinion.

That sounds familiar. Hmm, don't tell me.....it'll come to me......

[Shalewind]

It’s an angry and amazed outburst. It’s not the best grammar but it’s well in line for a shocked sentiment.

It’s also word for word the expression uttered by David Caruso’s character in the 1995 movie Kiss of Death when Nick Cage brutally murders a partner in crime in front of him.

To me the line fit perfectly.